Best Buy UK announce closing down sale. Apart from maybe a cheap toaster, what does that mean for you?

It didn't quite work out for Best Buy UK who only opened their first UK store in April 2010. They have announced that following "employee consultation" (although, we do wonder how many employees actually would have agreed to their job being lost in a consultation with their employer) they will cease trading in their UK stores and website by 15th January 2012.

They also confirm that they will be shutting their stores this very weekend to prepare for a closing down sale which will be held on Monday 28th November 2011. Our deal ninjas over at HUKD are already dusting off their wallets in readiness. The sale will also cover online orders as well as instore.

For the (apparent) few that have actually been making use of Best Buy, some important points to consider:

Gift cards - all current giftcards will need to be used before the stores close on 15th January 2012. Best Buy will no longer be selling gift cards as of 26th November 2011.

Service plans - existing plans will still be covered by Aviva so you can claim as per the terms of the policy. Best Buy will not be offering any new service plans but you can take out a plan for purchases made before 26th November 2011 as long as it is within 30 days.

Manufacturers warranty - this is a warranty extension purchashed from Best Buy and they say that they will still deal with existing warranty requests. There is never any harm in approaching a manufacturer direct but there will be times when a manufacturer will be reluctant to replace a product due to you not having a contract with them. You can still contact Best Buy to report a problem but there is not yet any word on how these requests will be dealt with.

Product installation - any installations which have already been booked will be completed. However, there will be no further installations after 26th November 2011.

Existing finance - finance agreements will not be affected and will continue to run with Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance (if applicable).

Deliveries - all deliveries will be completed. Orders can still be placed online for delivery.

Existing repairs - any existing items will be repaired as agreed.

It seems a shame that the UK didn't embrace the "big box" stores but in a market already saturated with the likes of Currys, Comet etc it seems it really wasn't that much of a surprise.

25 comments

Businessman

If someone had asked you two years ago "We are thinking of opening yet another chain of crap electronic gizmo shops what do you reckon?"
And you would have said "Terrible idea there are too many already. Plus everybody gets things off the internet."
Don't companies like Best Buy have special retail consultants (on £750/day) to tell them this kind of thing?

Two years ago I couldn't see the point in yet another big electronics chain, but I was wrong. Best Buy are far better than their competitors. For an AV enthusiast there demo rooms were the best in the UK and they always seemed to have everything in stock.
All I can say is that I'm surprised it's not one of their competitors closing their doors.

Im an old Best buy work I left because the appalling way i was treated. The reason why the staff are ok with the redundancy is because they ar ebeing paid off. I kept in touch with people i used to work with and according to one of the managers they are all getting 3X their yearly wage. How true this is I do not know but that what i have heard so far.

Bestbuy where always more expensive than the local PC World/Currys megastore in Southampton. That got to be one of the main reasons they are going. Should have gone for cheap prices - instead it was all show and over helpful staff.

Robert, I'm currently (for the time being) employed by Best Buy and the severance package you are quoting is utter nonsense. Technically we are entitled to nothing, but Carphone Warehouse are being nice enough to give us two months wages upfront as a goodwill gesture. It is a great shame Best Buy is closing, but considering the economic climate and the outlook for Europe, it was probably easier to just cut their losses and leave before things get worse.

this will be the downfall of Dixons group soon enough too.
the ridiculous notion of people will pay extra for 'service' rather than the faceless online stores is proof that the people at the top are over payed idiots.
in the economic climate today you can buy ANYTHING that Currys/PCW sell elsewhere without the hassle of some Fives-trained knobhead (who isnt getting commision, just hassle themselves from managers over targets) trying desperately to sell them every single add-on under the sun and giving away the 'free month' of Whatever Happens cover to appease management and in the hope that the customer doesnt check their bank statements and continues to get stung for £8+ per month on a cheap shitty laptop that they'll throw away in a year or so anyway.
heres the headlines for Dixons
the only people who give a flying FUCK about service, go to John Lewis, they do not shop at Currys.
the people who DO, want cheap, AND they want to haggle and get money off too
they don't care about service plans, product support or whatever else you dress up your warranty as.
the really thick ones just want pointing in the direction of a decent TV/Fridge/Computer and telling "thats good, buy that"
but for the most part, the majority of shoppers are far far more savvy than in the past and have done their internet research and have friends in I.T. and such who can and will advise them more impartially than your under payed sales advisors can.
you are going to LOSE this battle against Amazon, the supermarkets and the rest of the internet.

David, i did say what i heard though. didnt say it was true. but best buy was expensive though. Best buy focused on big spenders not people who wanted something cheap and cheerful unless you baught ans isus TV which costantly go returned to nurmaouse faults

RE:- COMMY
Commy, you seem to forget that Dixons turnover is £8.5 Billion a year and over half the UK population spend inside a Currys or Pc World store every year.
Unfortunately for you Dixons will be around for years to come. People do want Service and you only have to read INDEPENDENT data that shows that John Lewis customers are losing faith in their service proposition and Dixons is moving massively forwards. Hey I understand WhatEver Happens isn't for everyone but their are MILLIONS of people who pay for and use the service every year. Why don't you gain an opinion from someone who has spilt a drink over their Laptop, where KnowHow have recovered their data and transferred it to a new Laptop and got the customer back up and running with that new machine in less than 7 days, oh, whilst they continued working on a loan machine. Can John Lewis do that? No, thought not...
The problem with people like you Commy is you don't really know what your talking about. Your just spouting what you believe is the truth, the great thing about the Internet that you love so much is you can quickly dispel everything you say through some decent retail websites. Amazon, the king in your eyes, remind me of their charge for returning unwanted goods? How quick is the turn around on repair if a product develops a fault? Can you just drop into a store and have a question or query answered?
Anyway I don't even know why I'm bothering responding to an insignificant such as yourself, enjoy your Internet shopping...

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What the hell is wrong with the British public, I`m a British Citezen and I fly to California on a annual basis and a store i visit a lot is`Fry`s Electronics`, its a god dam awesome place, I manage to get everything my gadget teckhie heart desires. The £ gets you about $1:50 so your quids in. Not taking into account the pound - dollar rate, Best Buy in the UK had a retail price much cheaper then its competitors so why didnt Joe Blogs see how much outstanding value he was getting from BestBuy? Why does England have to be 20 years behind America and in mentality too. I save more money that includes my air fair ticket to fly to the states, however if I had purchased my usual items from BestBuy since 2009 I would have saved the air fair per annum ! It leaves me to ask " why are the UK public so narrow minded, why didnt they make it work, what are they shy of ?

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